Startup of the Day – EnContext Advertising

The BizSpark startup of the day is EnContext Advertising, based in the US. You will find below an interview with Jean M. Touboul of EnContext Advertising. All the best to them and congrats for being the startup of the day!

Interview with Jean M. Touboul of EnContext Advertising

Who are you?

EnContext is high tech/media company offering a unique solution to the TV industry by embedding advertisements and links within the images shown on a video stream.

How do you feel being the most promising ‘company of the day’ per Microsoft?

We offer a unique solution that could “revolutionize” the way advertising on TV and Web TV is experienced with a vast potential application in education.

What did you do before creating your company?

I was an executive with World Avenue, one of the leaders in Lead Generation in the US and a former Executive and part of the core team that made Commission Junction (CJ) the global leader in Affiliate Marketing. My experience extends into Media as well, launching film and video distribution operations in Asia and Europe for The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.

How did you get the idea? What s the genesis?

I’ve always thought that Media and the Internet converged into one unified “offering” and EnContext Advertising is the ultimate expression of my thinking in this space.

What do you sell? What is your company’s mission?

EnContext allows television and motion picture producers and distributors to encode their programs and series with advertising and information opportunities thanks to EnContext Advertising which provides viewers with the ability to click on an object within an image and, and , after being redirected purchase what they have selected or access information on this product. EnContext offers an intuitive approach to accessing something right off the screen of a TV monitor and profoundly complements traditional advertising or can even replace it altogether.

What is your market?

Advertising agencies, product-placement marketers, media companies, content producers, broadcasters, cable providers, telecommunications companies, and viewers and consumers who will welcome EnContext because it empowers them (human nature dictates that curiosity and desire will continue to drive viewer interaction with products despite the fact that no push advertising is used).

Any clients? References? Partners?

Not at this juncture.

Funding history? VCs? BA?

We are at a very early stage developing a fully functional prototype and looking for funds to take EnContext to the next level of development.

Growth? Internationalization?

EnContext Advertising can be used anywhere in the world and, in fact, works best when it is used that way since the serving of offers from a single encoded program is driven by a data base, something that allows great flexibility and opportunities for optimization of served options in response to clicks on images originating from anywhere in the world.

How many employees do you have? How many developers?

At this stage EnContext Advertising counts only the two founding partners as its employees.

Are you hiring? If yes, what? Where?

We hope to be hiring soon and initially in Florida where we are based.

Which platform are you building on? Why?

We have not made a final decision on the platform since we are focused on developing the code to embed the MPEG signal and create the interface to manage the system.

Do you have any Software IP? Is there something that you’re the only one to do on the market?

We are confident that we are the first in the market and may be the only ones with a comprehensive model and application package for some time to come. We do not have a specific software IP at this time but what we are developing is unique and we have a patent pending.

Who’s your role model?

As far as companies are concerned probably Adobe.

Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/internet areas?

Precisely where are now in the application of the Internet and related technology in the Media.

Looking for funding? If yes, how much?

We have three phases of development with our first phase requiring $500,000 and Phase 2 and 3 rolling soon after this for a total of 3 million dollar.

What about the BizSpark Program? What do you think? Are you going to join? Why?

We are already part of BizSpark and joined very recently for that matter. So far it is great since it gives us access to a great deal of information and resources.